The PACWolves II: The Stone Dragon
by Roy Olsen
Summary: This is the sequel to the Zoids story I wrote last year. It was about a group of Republic pilots who were betrayed by a Helic General. This is two years later in the Guylos Empire...
1. Chapter 1

I swore to myself that I'd never go the route of the scoundrel, of the downtrodden, of the…the bounty hunter. But I had a big mouth to feed, and my friends and I--"The Castaways of the Republic," as we called ourselves--liked to eat. Finding work in the Guylos Empire was difficult, especially for veterans of the Helic Republic. We couldn't join the Imperial Army; we tried that once already and were chased out of the country for being spies. Once back in New Helic City, the Republic's Army found us and chased us clear back to the Southern Frontier for being traitors. We figured we'd have an easier time staying out of site in Guylos, since less people know us there…but we also knew we had no friends.

Kavid Deen, Kellar Sifen, Harley Mansod, Bruno Saltus and I—Jeremy Kelt--drifted through town taverns trying to scrape up any information we could on bounties. We focused mainly on Helic Republic bounties, as a gift to our old homeland, but they were hard to find in the Empire, so we tracked down a few Guylos bad-guys now and then. We didn't find many at first--people don't like to share information with strangers.

Our saving grace came when Bruno bought an old bar in the town of Klaylos. It wasn't very far from the Southern Frontier, so business was good--frontiersmen liked to drink. On-the-run guys who need a drink will say anything.

Our need for strong Zoids was pretty intense until about a year ago when Sifen and I went back to the Bay of Rocks and looted the Death Sniper's old cavern--we figured he owed us. The Sniper had quite the supply of weapons, to be sure, but the Zoids he hoarded were the true prizes.

A fully armed Red Horn was in the caves, as well as a Hel Digunner and beat-up old Redler. After a couple of months we were able to buy parts for the flying Zoid and get it into the air.

The golden prize was the Zoid that I now pilot: a Lightning Saix. The robotic cheetah was in perfect condition, with no flaws or weaknesses to be found. I have to say it puts my old Command Wolf to shame.

Mansod was happy to take the Hel Digunner we found, but I felt there would be a fight for the Red Horn. To my surprise, Kavid wanted the Redler. I had always assumed he hated to fly, but he has thoroughly enjoyed the little dragon.

He has also enjoyed the beer bottle a bit too much. We're all getting a bit sloppy, but Kavid is falling the hardest.

I'm not sure if Sifen likes his Red Horn--he's never showed much enthusiasm towards it--but he doesn't complain, either--that's just his way.

We miss our old lives in the Helic Republic, but the Guylos Empire is not the source of evil that the Republic's politicians always make it out to be. To be honest, the war is escalating; everyone can feel it. Both governments are looking for whatever reason they can find to scale their massive Zoid armies against each other. Planet Zi is a tense place to live nowadays, no matter which side of the Europa Continent you live on.


	2. Chapter 2

Let's just say keeping an Imperial-built sixty-five-ton steel robot quiet is a piece of cake. These guys in Guylos know how to shut a Zoid up. In the two years I've lived in the Guylos Empire I've never once come across a well-maintained Zoid that wasn't stealthy. Well, except maybe that Iguan, but I only drove that for a little while out of desperation.

One nice thing about the Guylos Empire's southern countryside is that it has a lot of hills. It is actually possible to keep a Zoid out of sight along the twisty-turny roads when you're tracking someone

Like today.

I slowly walked my Lightning Saix through the hills, carefully keeping the steep mounds of earth between my prey and my Zoid. Imperial Zoids may be quiet, and there may be hills, but they are still huge.

Our prey-of-the-day was a convoy of Zoids controlled by Crotius Rykur. He was a wealthy scum ball who, naturally, acquired his wealth through crime and thievery. After he stole a group of five Imperial Army supply Gustavs on their way to Gellenos, the newest town on the edge of the Southern Frontier, the Empire slapped a massive bounty on his head. They wanted what he stole back.

I was happy to help. For a large fee.

Even with a plethora of bounties and bounty hunters out there, the Southern Frontier was filling up with thieves and criminals. It was a shame, too; I kind of liked the place. Of course, it was still a frontier for one basic reason: No one wanted to live there. It was mostly desert with a few mountains--not much value…at least on the outside. Thieves like the Death Sniper had stashed their goods throughout the land, and there were treasures to be found. Finding them was too dangerous for the average man.

That's another reason we stayed in Guylos. We weren't average.

The convoy was on the other side of the hill, and was guarded with pairs of Red Horns, Molgas and Hel Digunners. Not a bad defense, but I doubted that the pilots had any real skill. My team was a team of veterans, who were all very hungry at the moment.

This should be over in two minutes.

Sifen, my intelligent, yet occasionally ruthless friend, was staying far across the hills on the other side of the convoy. Mansod, the teams deadweight, was way behind making sure the convoy didn't turn around on us. Kavid? Who knew where he was. He was the sharpest pilot I'd ever seen, but lately I was ashamed to call him my friend. Now wasn't the time to dwell on that, though.

When the convoy reached a tight stretch of road between the hills, it was time to attack.

I flicked on my HUD-Comm to Sifen. "CR-3, confirm your position."

Sifen responded with audio only, "Ninety west, sir. Waiting for command."

I opened a line to Mansod, "CR-4, start tightening things up, we go in fifteen."

"Yes, sir." He'd been training with Sifen too long. Always too proper.

I really wished I knew were Kavid was, but we had to stay out of sight and keep the Comm transmitter power as low as possible to avoid interception. I just hoped Kavid's eyes were as good as he said they were. I didn't want to strike without a complete team, but I couldn't wait for him any more.

After fifteen seconds, I made my move.

My Lightning Saix jumped the hill and ran sideways like a crab, strafing the two Red Horns in the lead. The shots didn't break their armor, but it sure confused the heck out of them. The tight roadway didn't give them enough room to turn around, leaving them unable to counterattack.

Sifen's Red Horn came stampeding over the other hill, leapt into the air and smashed down upon a Molga. The slithering Zoid was crushed under the styracasaurus' weight and exploded. Sifen's Zoid emerged from the smoke and fire and rammed the lead Gustav, flipping it over and blocking off the roadway.

Rykur's Red Horns were chasing me with laser blasts but quickly assessed Sifen as the greater danger and spun their main cannons back at him. Unable to turn their bodies around, however, their firepower was limited.

The remaining Molga and pair of Hel Digunners climbed up the steep hillsides to get around the flipped Gustav and its trailers. They took firing positions against Sifen, but before they could start their barrage, Mansod scampered up in CR-4 and shot a hole through the Molga and blew the cannons off of the Hel Digunners. That new Null Ray Cannon of his was worth every penny.

My Saix had an excellent firing position on the hillside and popped off the weapons array of the right Red Horn without taking any damage. CR-3 destroyed the weapons of the left Red Horn. Victory was ours, with or without Kavid.

I opened an all-frequency hail channel to Rykur. "Crotius Rykur, you are now placed under citizen's arrest for crimes against the Empire. Please come with us peacefully to the town of Klaylos where we will deliver you to the proper authorities." Man that sounded cheesy.

"The hell I will!" barked Rykur. The left Red Horn roared and charged down the road. One shot from Mansod's new gun sent it sliding on its stomach, out of commission.

"Great job, guys." I said to Sifen and Mansod, trying to forget about Kavid. "Now lets—."

Before I could finish my compliments, Kavid's face appeared on the HUD-Comm. He looked dead drunk.

"Don't worry guys! I got 'im!" Kavid's Redler fell out of the clouds like a meteor. Its wings were folded up and its hybrid booster cannons were painting a trail of exhaust across the sky.

"Kavid!" I screamed, "No! Get out of here! We don't—!" But it was too late. The Redler's wings unfolded and the cannons began raining explosive hail onto Rykur's Red Horn. The Zoid was engulfed in fire as chunks of armor rocketed off of the body.

Then, it exploded.

The eruption knocked my Lightning Saix over; the shrapnel scraped and punctured my Zoid's damage-free body.

"Yeehah!" cheered Kavid as his Redler swooped up and flew back into the clouds. He was probably going off to go get drunk again.

"Dammit, Kavid!" I cursed. My old friend had ruined a big catch, and his fall into idiocy was costing us more than money.

I slammed Kavid hard against the wall. "You stupid asshole! What the hell is wrong with you?"

His body was limp and he spoke annoyingly quiet. "I didn't know."

"Didn't know? Didn't know? You didn't even try to find out! How could you come to a battle like that drunk? We're lucky we didn't need your help!" I let him go and he slid down the wall to the floor.

"Damn!" I cursed. "How are we going to afford new ammunition now? How are we going to repair our Zoids, the Zoids you damaged with your stupid attack!"

His face was a void, even emptier than Sifen's. Normally I'd be worried, but right then I was too mad.

"And how are we gonna pay off Nevets?" asked Mansod. It took all the strength I had left not to punch Mansod through the wall. As ill-timed as his question was, it was a valid point.

Major Erem Nevets was the local law authority in the town of Klaylos. He was the stereotypical corrupt military man: he ruled with an iron fist, but he could be bought off. He recognized us the day we moved into town, but agreed to let us live there if we paid him a hefty fee every month. With the loss of the Rykur bounty, there was no way we could pay him now.

"Where do you get all that alcohol anyways, Kavid?" His eyes were closed.

Sifen entered the room. "Jeremy, I have some moderately good news for you. A couple of Rykur's henchmen had bounties on them."

I didn't even want to look up. "How much?"

"Enough to pay off Nevets for another month, but that is about it. Nothing left for ammunition or repair. Nothing even for food."

The room was dead quiet as I thought, but there was really only one answer. "Then we need to find another bounty."

Sifen tried to sound neutral, but I could here his frustration. "The Redler and Hel Digunner are out of ammunition, and the Saix and Red Horn need repair work."

I heard loud snoring and looked at Kavid. "Let's get over to Bruno's and find some info."

Sifen and Mansod left the room first, but before I left, I laid Kavid onto the couch. He really stunk, and I really wanted to beat the crap out of him, but I couldn't just leave him there to rot. He…used to be my friend.

"So, how was the haul today?" asked Bruno as he slid us over a couple of beers.

"Lousy."

"Yeah, Kavid screwed it all up by killing Rykur!" said Mansod. That ignorant nimrod needed to learn when to just stay quiet. A couple of patrons heard Mansod's comment and looked our way. I stared at him and he quickly started drinking his beer.

"Did you get anythin' then? What about Rykur's cargo? Anything worth looting?'"

I froze solid. I was so mad a Kavid the last couple of hours that I had totally forgotten about the fact that Rykur was supposedly hauling a valuable cargo. "I…I don't know." I looked at Sifen, who was budgeting our money accounts while sipping wine.

"The local authorities found nothing in the Gustavs or the cargo crates on the trailers." he said, "If Rykur had anything of worth, it wasn't in that convoy. I had a difficult time convincing Nevets that we didn't take anything."

"Indeed!" said an annoyingly high-pitched voice from the doorway. "And you proved your honor most excellently, Mr. Sifen." I knew who it was. His voice always hurt my cyberphonic implants, my "fake ears". A mostly gray-haired, slender man of medium-height stood in the doorway. He didn't wear glasses but had a lazy left eye. His jagged features made for an ugly face and a painful handshake.

"Hello, Major Nevets!" Said Bruno as cheerfully as possible, "Would ya like a refreshment today?" Bruno asked that every time Nevets walked into the bar, and it really annoyed the heck out of the Major. Thanks, Bruno.

"No, Mr. Saltus, as usual, I do not. I came here only to talk business with Mr. Kelt."

I started seeing little shapes in my beer bubbles. They looked like little Molgas.

"Mr. Kelt? Excuse me?"

Sifen butted in. "He can hear you just fine, Major. What would you like to talk about?"

"Very well. I have come for your monthly…" he looked at the other bar patrons, "'rent' payment. I trust you have it?"

"It's not due for two more days!" cried out Mansod.

"Yes, well, I'm sorry to say that I need it now, and am unable to wait any longer. I'm sure you understand?" He sneered at me. I hated his sneer.

"Give him the money, Sifen." Sifen nodded and handed him a bundle of cash. Nevets quickly counted it and freaked.

"There is only half the amount here!"

"That's all you're going to get, Major." I said quietly. "That's all we can afford. I'm sorry."

Nevets slammed his fist onto the bar and turned me to look at him. "Sorry? Really? Why don't I believe that?" he actually did the tough-guy thing pretty well. "You don't call the shots, Mr. Kelt, I do. I'm getting sick of you and your stupid friends trying to patronize me. You either give me the money or I'll have the Imperial Army drag your dead bodies back to Mt. Hoploy behind a couple of rusty Helcats. Do I make myself clear?"

As much as I hated it, he was right. Either we paid him or we died. Pretty simple concept. I began to see that our situation had developed far beyond bribery.

I looked at Sifen and nodded again. He handed the Major the rest of the money. Once he had counted it, the Major was much calmer.

"Very good. But I'm afraid your poor attitude has just doubled your rent. Next month I want twice this much."

"What?" gasped Mansod. I stood up and stared face-to-face with Nevets.

"You know that we can't afford that! What are you trying to do? Run us into the ground?"

Nevets sneered again. "I don't think I need to answer that." He turned around and started walking towards the door. He stopped and looked at us again. "Of course, you could always come work for me. Then your 'rent' would be much less."

That wasn't the first time he'd proposed such a thing, but it always made me laugh. "Not on your life."

"Indeed. Just make sure it's not on your life, Mr. Kelt. Ta-ta!" He pocketed the cash and walked out the door with a stupid victorious grin on his face.

I grabbed my beer and started feeling a lot closer to Kavid.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next day with quite a hangover. Luckily, Mansod had started some coffee and Sifen had toasted some ration wafers for breakfast. Gad, they were bland, but I learned from Mansod that if you dip them in his "special" coffee, they were at least stomach-able. Such were the ways of suffering Zoid pilots.

"Good morning, captain." Said Sifen. I nodded. Everyone knew what was coming next.

"Where's Kavid?"

"In his room, I believe. There have been a few noises coming from it throughout the night." Sifen responded.

I frowned. Not a great answer, but at least one with positive potential. I'd deal with Kavid after my meal.

Or so I thought.

Before the dripping wafer reached my mouth, there were knocks at the door. Odd. Nobody ever knocked at our door. Not even Nevets; he always barged in.

Sifen reached the door first and opened it.

Katrana Sared stood in the hallway, wearing a heavy green cloak. Her eyes searched the room and stopped when they found me. Sifen, Mansod and I couldn't think of what to say, but her next words went straight to me.

"May I come in?"

The soggy wafer crumbled between my fingers and flopped to the ground, but my cyberphonic implants could only hear my heartbeat increase. Sifen, in a rare case of dumbfoundedness, stepped aside in silence. Katrana, quivering, found a chair and sat down. In a look of elegance, she threw back her cloak's hood, revealing her gorgeous red hair, only briefly taking her eyes off of mine.

I wanted to say a thousand things, but our eye contact was like a lock; I had to wait for her to make the first move.

Unfortunately, Mansod didn't.

"Katrana, what are you doing out here?" At least it broke the ice.

"I…we need you. The Helic Republic needs you back. Despite everything my father did to you, that I…did to you…we need you to pilot Zoids for us again."

"Did a Gun Sniper step on your head or something, red head?" In all the emotion, none of us noticed Kavid enter the room. "Your father tried to kill us! _You_ tried to kill us! We owe you _nothing_!"

With that, Kavid stormed out of the apartment. Katrana's face didn't change, but her eyes began to water. She knew that someone would say something like that.

Damn it all, Kavid.

I figured it was time I said something. "Including my aching head, this day has had a hell of a start. Let's back up a little." Katrana grinned. "Katrana Sared, it is amazing to see you again, despite what the town drunk had to say. We'll try our hardest to get you something to eat or drink. Sifen, considering who she is and where she has come from, _shut the door_!"

Sifen nodded and quickly closed the door, then braced it shut with a chair in case Nevets decided to stop by.

Katrana had the old twinkle back in her eye when she looked at me. Man, I wanted to kick the guys out.

Sifen finally spoke. "There must be a grim situation in the Helic Republic for them to ask for our help."

The twinkle faded as she picked up her coffee from Mansod. "Have any of you heard of the Stone Dragon?" We all shook our heads. "It's not what you might think. It's not a dragon- or even a dinosaur-type Zoid. It's a heavily modified Liger Zero-X." She frowned at the flavor of the coffee.

"What's so special about that?" blurted out Mansod.

"It has thicker armor than a Panzer unit, sharper blades than a Geno Breaker, heavier weapons that an Iron Kong and is faster than a Lightning Saix."

Sifen and I looked doubtful, but Mansod's jaw dropped. He'd believe anything.

"It has been tearing up outposts and villages on the Southern Frontier for weeks now, and nothing we have can stop it."

"Weeks?" inquired Sifen, "Then why haven't we heard anything about it?"

"Because no one has survived an attack of the Stone Dragon."

My jaw was set. Although the Helic Republic had betrayed me, it was still my homeland, and quite frankly, I was sick of living the life of a desperate loser in the Guylos Empire. Perhaps this was the chance the "Castaways of the Republic" needed to finally go home.

But to fight a super-Zoid...We'd done it before, and nearly died doing it. Still…

"Keep talking." I said.

I could see agreement in Sifen's eyes, but Mansod's jaw was still wide open. Katrana smiled.

"The Emperor of Guylos wants a war for the Southern Frontier, and is egging the Helic Republic on. The citizens of the Empire would never approve of a war unless the Republic started it. Therefore, the Empire is using the Stone Dragon to lure the Republic to attack first."

"I see where this is going." I said. "We would be mercenaries that would destroy the Stone Dragon, but the Republic could deny any connection to it. Damn." My sense of pride shattered.

Katrana held my hand. "Don't look at it that way. We need you. You're the best Southern Frontier pilots that we've ever had. We'll give you the best Zoids available in the entire Republic for this battle. And after this is all over, you'll be free to return to the Republic to start new lives."

I saw the twinkle return to her eyes when she said a certain phrase. "You said 'best Zoids' didn't you?" I asked with a grin.

Her smile stretched ear to ear. "Let's go see them."

I walked next to Katrana, but kept her at arms' length. Could I trust her? There was absolutely no way to be certain. Sifen and Mansod stayed behind us, providing me with some feeling of security, but I knew that they were as nervous as I was. Kavid? Who knew where he had gone off to.

We said nothing but small-talk to each other as we walked across the town of Klaylos. She was obviously a woman with a plan, with a goal. I wanted to trust her, but the past cried to me to use caution.

After about twenty minutes we reached a wheat field. At the southern side of it sat an enormous metallic granary. A rather beat-up-looking Gustav hooked up with two pretty-big trailers sat beside it. The trailers were empty, but the clamps were in locked-down positions. Odd.

Katrana spoke up first, "This is my Gustav. Don't let it's appearance deceive you." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small remote control. Upon clicking a button on it, the smashed-up appearance of her Zoid faded away, revealing the Gustav's true, perfect-condition.

"Impressive." Said Sifen.

"After we went our separate ways, I focused my military career on the development of holograms and cloaking shields." Lieutenant Sared said. She then clicked another button on the remote, and a brief flash of light fluttered across the Gustav's trailers. As the cargo de-cloaked, I lost my breath. I had an idea about what was going to be there, but it still shocked me.

Four PAC-Wolves stood on the trailers.

"Ka…Katrana…" I clumsily started, "How could…I mean, how did?" I nearly ran over to PAC-1 and gazed up at the ruby red and black Zoid. Its shining silver Long-Range Cannon shone beautifully in the sunset.

Sifen and Mansod were also in awe at the PAC-Wolves. PAC-2's Heavy Weapons system was as impressive as ever. PAC-3's missile system and thrusters were just as incredible to the eye. Although PAC-4 had no upgrades, knowing that it was indestructible with the Plasma Armor modification made you want to take on a Berserk Fuhrer with it.

"These are not the originals, correct?" inquired Sifen.

Katrana shook her head. "No. As you know, PAC-2 and PAC-3 were destroyed by the Death Sniper. Unfortunately, PAC-1 was too heavily damaged from the Charged Particle Beam to be fully repaired. But this is the original PAC-4. They have all been plasma charged using the same process as before. Everything should be fine. You're all set to go."

"Not quite." I said.

"Oh my god!"

"Well, Kavid, is that a good response, or bad?" I asked.

My friend stared for only a moment, then drew his blaster and started firing at PAC-2. The laser bolts ricocheted harmlessly off of the Zoid but caused the rest of us to drop to the ground. They also put a couple of small holes in the granary, which began to leak wheat grains.

It had taken three hours for us to find Kavid and get him back here, and this was not the response I was going to accept.

Enraged, I scampered up from the ground and sprinted for Kavid, who, as a reflex, turned the gun on me, but didn't fire.

Our chests hit first as I clamped my arms around him and took us both airborne for a brief flight before we smashed the ground hard on my forearms and his back. My adrenaline level and his alcohol level made pain a moot point.

Pulling my arms out from beneath him, I began pummeling the man I trusted my life to. "You damn idiot! What is your problem?" I screamed at him.

He managed to shove me back and kick me off. His face was a bloody mess, but he had no desire to take revenge on me. "I was damn-near ripped to pieces in that thing, and you expect me to crawl back in one again and pretend it never happened?" He sniffed and wiped blood from his mouth. His eyes were very wet.

"I wake up almost every night shaking in pain, unable to feel my hands, because of what the Death Sniper did to me in the first PAC-Wolf 2, and you want me to start fighting in another one? Are you insane?" Kavid was on the verge of hysteria.

"Kavid!" I called to him, "The Death Sniper is gone. We aren't going after another Particle Breaker Beam. We'll be going after a tough target, yes, but he won't have a Wave-Smacker. And if we do this right, Kavid, we can go home!"

Kavid sniffed again and turned to look at me. "Home?"

"Yes! Once we get through this, we can get out of this damn Empire and go back home to the Republic forever! No more Zoids!"

I could see that this was what Kavid really wanted. He used to be the best Zoid pilot I'd ever seen, but ever since the Death Sniper nearly killed him with the Particle Breaker Beam, he had started down the path of insanity. He needed to stop. But I had to ask another favor from him first.

"Just one more mission, Kavid. Please. Don't give up yet!"

Kavid stared for a few more seconds, then squinted really hard. "Okay, Jeremy. One more mission. Then I'm done with this Zoid stuff. Forever."

"I'll be right behind you, bud."


	4. Chapter 4

Katrana had used the medical kits in her Gustav to mend the wounds on Kavid's face and was now working on my hands. Although he had now agreed to join our little battle, I could see that Kavid's heart was still not in it, and he was very uncomfortable around Katrana.

"Things seem a lot different than before." She said as she bandaged my knuckles.

"The battle with the Death Sniper really shook him up. He hasn't been the same since." I remembered the days I couldn't get him to join a bounty hunt unless he was drunk.

"Having your Zoid shatter to ashes, leaving you writhing in pain, feeling like your nerves are being ripped to pieces would do that." The comment came from Kavid, not Katrana. He walked up behind us, looking very tired, now that he was sober.

"Sorry, bud, we're just assessing the situation." I said.

Kavid looked at the moon rising over the northern hills. "Katrana, my problem is more with that asshole father of yours than you." He turned and stared at her. "Tell me the truth: is this for the Helic Republic or for him?"

Katrana returned his stare with fiery eyes. "My father killed himself a month after you guys left for Guylos." She returned her attention to my hands.

Kavid looked back at the moon. "I wish I could say that I'm sorry, but don't blame us."

"I've never blamed you for anything concerning my father." She finished my hands and turned her back to us.

I decided to change the subject. "I am a little concerned about the PAC-Wolves Katrana."

She cut me off by waving her arm and turning around.. "If you're worried about the Particle Charger, don't. Word about it never left Mt. Hoploy, and more of them were never built. The Guylos Empire has never even heard of the PAC-Wolves."

"That's good to hear." I said. Her answer seemed too perfect, though.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, annoying voice squeaked out over a bullhorn.

"Greetings!"

Nevets.

I stepped out from behind the granary with Katrana and Kavid close behind. "You've made a big mistake coming here, Major." My fists were so tight my knuckles started bleeding again.

"Mistake? _Mistake?_" Nevets was ready to erupt, as usual. He stood in front of a Helcat parked in the middle of the wheat field. "You're the fool who's standing next to a unit of Helic Republic Command Wolves in the middle of the Guylos Empire! I've never seen a bigger mistake in all my life!" He started laughing, but I could see the fear in his eyes. Nevets was a man who made his bad decisions in life out of greed, not lack of analytical skill.

Katrana drew her blaster, and the Major promptly stopped laughing. He almost comically began struggling to pull his pistol from its holster. The man did not have a lot of weapon's skill.

"Major, seeing how my blaster is aimed right at you, I suggest you just give up and raise your hands." Katrana was nervous, but in control. Nevets gave up his struggle with his pistol and raised his hands.

As Kavid and I walked over to the major, we noticed he was smiling, and it was a smile continuing to grow in size. "So, you've made friends with Lieutenant Sared? You really are stupid. I've been tracking her for days, now. The fact that I'm going to kill you _and _her at the same time just serves to get me promoted out of this hell-hole so much quicker." He nodded at the granary. "Don't you dare think that I've lost control of this situation." I spun around when heavy smashing sounds pounded out from within the giant wheat container.

Heavy repeating laser blasts began hammering their way out of the tower. Their aim was about twenty meters high and they spread in a clockwise pattern. The massive display was frightening enough to drop everyone--even Nevets--to the ground.

Once the blasts stopped, wheat grains were pouring out of the new holes. The air filled with the smell of burnt grain and smoke. I had a pretty good idea about what was coming next--and I was right.

A loud, screeching roar echoed out of the metallic tube. Giant claws stabbed through from the inside, and following the path of the recent laser blasts, they quickly ripped the top thirty meters of the granary off and flung it into the air.

The downward rush of grain seemed to melt in the appearance of a Killer Spiner hidden in the wheat. Not just a Dark Spiner, but one with its spines removed and a Killer Dome attached to its back. It was a standard Imperial Killer Spiner: one with a teal-colored Dark-Spiner and a red Killer Dome. There were no upgrades to be seen, but that means very little in the world of Zoids.

Katrana was frozen with panic and I was unsure of my next step. Running was pointless; one shell from a Killer Dome's claw cannons could incinerate a human being, and it could fire two-thousand per minute.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nevets crawling out to his Helcat and getting away. I would have to deal with him later.

The Spiner stepped out of the granary and aimed down at us. Then, for no apparent reason, it roared. A roar so loud that it overloaded my cyberphonic implants. My poor implants shut down from the unexpected strain and I went deaf for the second time in my life.

In a new haze, I could see that Katrana and Kavid were hurt as well, but at least their hearing hadn't decided to turn off. As I closed my eyes expecting to feel pain, I instead felt a soft wind and vibrations on the ground. Looking back over at the Killer Spiner again, I could see that PAC-Wolf-4 had jumped over us and was now standing in our defense! Hurray for Mansod!

Arms grabbed me from behind and pulled me back. Kavid and Katrana were tugging me to the PAC-Wolves while we had time to escape. Looking back to PAC-4, it was getting smashed hard by the KS' cannons, but was barely able to get a shot back at it. Thank goodness for the plasma armor.

Once we all had reached the PAC-Wolves, Sifen was already taking off in PAC-3. As soon as I got into PAC-1's cockpit, I looked over at the Killer Spiner, and saw a bright flash. It had just sent PAC-4 into the air with a heavy blast. Mansod's Zoid sailed 150-meters and came crashing down behind the Gustav and its trailers.

As I drove PAC-1 toward the battle, I noticed that PAC-2 was still on the trailer. I could see Katrana and Kavid fighting with each other in front of it. Damn, I wish I could have heard what they were saying.

Sifen had opened his missile launchers and was attempting to unload a volley at the imperial super-Zoid. I tried to give him some help, but the Killer Spiner mowed down PAC-3 with its cannons and paid me no attention. The KS leapt through the air and came crashing down onto Sifen's Command Wolf, hitting him hard. The bi-pedal Zoid began frantically clawing at PAC-3's armor, but to no avail.

I opened fire at the Spiner's left arm, and was quickly joined in the barrage by PAC-2. Kavid's image popped up onto my HUD, but I could not hear what he was trying to tell me. Deep down, I was thankful that he had joined the battle. Our weapons did little damage to the large Zoid, but they did get it to step off of Sifen.

PAC-2 jumped in front of me and wagged its tail two times. Was this what Kavid had been trying to tell me? Regardless, I understood what he wanted me to do.

The Killer Spiner turned counter-clockwise from a crouched stance and began firing at us. In order to follow Kavid's plan, I had to stand my ground and suffer the massive vibrations as my Zoid was pummeled. I was almost thankful I couldn't hear the chaos. PAC-2 sprinted off towards the granary as the Spiner focused all its attention on shooting me. PAC-1 was nearly launched into the air as the heavy, rapidly repeating shells exploded against its indestructible armor plating.

After nearly a minute of rewardless assault, the KS stood up and began to walk towards PAC-Wolf-1. As it did, I could see PAC-3 imbedded into the ground behind it. The Command Wolf was still complete, though it would need a washing. I hoped that Sifen hadn't been banged around too much inside the cockpit. After all, the PAC-Wolves were plasma armored, not cushioned.

The combo-Zoid walked to arm's length of PAC-1 and grabbed it by the turret cannon it carried on its back. It lined up one of the massive crab-claw-cannons with the cockpit window of PAC-1. I could feel myself sweat just a little. Could the plasma armor resist point-blank fire from a claw-cannon? It had cracked when a Charged Particle Gun had blasted it, but then again that wasn't point blank.

As if on cue, a heavy laser shot hit the head of the Killer Spiner, blasting off the faceplate armor and sending it crashing to the ground. Using the confusion to my advantage, I wiggled PAC-1's controls and managed to break the Zoid free from the grasp of the KS. Not missing a beat, five more heavy blaster shots sailed in and cracked the spinosaurus-head and neck of the Killer Spiner.

The dinosaur-head tipped over and hung forward, lifeless, but the Killer Spiner was far from destroyed. It still carried a pilot in the Killer Dome section, a pilot who would be much more difficult a target.

As the Dark Spiner pilot fell out of the broken head and crashed to the ground, the Killer Spiner turned around to face the granary. It fired a heavy volley of rapid fire into the wreckage around the structure, causing a massive eruption. Amid the explosion, PAC-2 flew from the flames and crashed into the wheat field.

The Killer Dome pilot was good, that much was certain.

PAC-3 and PAC-4 ran up to my sides, and I could see that Sifen and Mansod were eager to tell me something. Since I couldn't hear them, I continued with the battle purely on my instincts: I ran at our opponent, shooting as fast as I could. Sifen and Mansod paused in surprise, but soon copied my strategy.

Our barrage of firepower did little more than chip and crack the heavy armor of the Killer Spiner, but it accomplished exactly what I wanted it to: it gave Kavid time to set up.

Out of the corner of my right eye, I saw PAC-2 run up behind the Spiner. Our opponent charged at me and attempted what it had tried before: it stuck its cannon in my Command Wolf's face and fired. Everything went white as the crab-claw-cannons started flashing.

In an instant, I was both blind and deaf.

What happened next was told to me later by Sifen:

"Your Wolf was knocked over 100-meters back and removed from the rest of the battle. Kavid fired multiple cannon shots into the left knee joints of the Spiner. I joined his assault by firing my remaining missiles at that same leg joint. Once the leg was broken, Mansod rammed the Killer Spiner, knocking it to the ground.

"From its immobilized position, the KS still tried to shoot us with its right claw-cannon. To our surprise, it kept us at bay. We were unable to get close to it. That is, until Katrana entered the battle with the Gustav and crashed into the Killer Spiner. The brute force of the strike rolled the Spiner into the burning wreckage of the granary. Katrana had ejected from her Gustav moments before the crash, and escaped harm."

By this time my eyesight was returning, but more importantly, my cyberphonic implants had reset themselves. What I saw, and heard, was both incredible and disturbing. The Killer Spiner was caught up in the middle of a giant fireball of smoke and flame pouring from the granary, slowly burning and melting the massive Zoid to death. It is times like these, when you hear a Zoid shriek in pain, that you remember that they are indeed life forms.

The red top of the Killer Dome popped off and the ejector-seat activated, sending the pilot flying away.

Kavid's voice was dominating our channel. He had taken charge, as he had in the old days. "Sifen, go out with Mansod to secure the area. I'm going to go get Bruno so we can get out of here as soon as I check up on Katrana and Jeremy."

"Yes sir." They both answered with the respect they'd wanted to give him for so long.

"What are my orders, sir?" I asked him with a touch of sarcasm.

I could feel his smile. "Get me a beer."


	5. Chapter 5

Bruno's Gustav slowly drove up the grassy hillside and lengthened out along the top. Mansod and Sifen took up the chores of driving the PAC-Wolves up onto the trailers. Once the four ruby-red Command Wolves were attached, Sifen activated their cloaking shields.

I stood about thirty meters away with Katrana and Kavid, looking back towards our former home and then out behind us to the Southern Frontier.

Bruno walked over to me with a small wad of cash. "I'm sorry, Captain. Since I was in such a hurry to sell yer old Zoids, I couldn't get much for 'um. After buyin' yer supplies…well, there just ain't much left."

"You did great, Bruno. We owe you a lot." I felt a lot of guilt.

"Na, you guys are my friends. That's what friends do. I know you'll be there when I need you." He gave me a dopey smile. "Well, I gotta check on the Gustav."

Bruno walked back to his silvery Zoid.

"I told Bruno I wouldn't make him leave his bar for at least another year." I looked over at my friend as he struggled with a trailer clamp.

"He knew he'd have to leave on a moment's notice sometime." Kavid re-assured me. "This kind of life is nothing new to him." I could only frown.

Katrana ran her arms around both of our elbows. "I'll do everything I can to make this up to you guys, honest. But right now I need you more than I can possibly put into words." Her tone grew much more grim. "The Stone Dragon will destroy this planet, not just the Republic. It's too powerful to let exist. The PAC-Wolves are the closest thing to a counter-force that we have, but only if you guys are at the controls."

She sure loved the melodramatic. Before I could reply, Kavid started up. "What do you mean, 'closest'? Don't you guys figure indestructible Zoids can eventually tear it down?"

Lieutenant Sared looked nervous, but gave us an honest answer. "I don't know."

I had to butt-in now. "Is it because of the Killer Spiner? True, I'm not feeling very good: my head hurts, my hands hurt, my cyberphonic implants hurt, but I'm okay. Sifen and Mansod have a couple bangs and bruises, but no breaks; they'll make it. Hey, I'll admit it: we got bashed pretty good out there--but because of the plasma armor, we beat a Zoid that normally takes battalions to take down, with just a handful of Command Wolves! Don't sell us short yet." I tried to smile.

So did she. "You're right." The smile shrank. "But the Stone Dragon can destroy battalions of Killer Spiners. I'm not even sure plasma armor can withstand its weapons."

"Is it a CPG?" Kavid was rock-jawed.

"No." answered Katrana. That was quite a relief. "But its weapons are not conventional. Command Wolf weaponry will never break its armor, either."

"Then we need equip them with weapons that can." I said, looking back to Klaylos.

Kavid looked at me, recognizing my loss in thought. "What are you planning?"

"Nevets."

The sound of grasshoppers was almost deafening, but that could only work to our advantage. The moons were both full, which didn't help things, but we managed to stay downwind from our target.

Nevet's home sat on the eastern side of town, with a heavily-armed Helcat parked beside it. Two guards walked posts inside the fence-line, carrying some rather brutal-looking anti-Zoid rifles. The fence stood only two meters from the side of the house, with a servants' entrance on the northern wall.

A single light shone from the upper floor of the large, two-story building.

I was very jittery. Any one of my friends could drive a Zoid, but subterfuge was not our speciality. Kavid and I had covered ourselves in black clothing and painted our faces with black paint, but it was all run-of-the-mill-quality disguise.

Still, if we were to have a chance against the Stone Dragon, even in our invincible little Plasma Armored Command Wolves, we needed a heavy weapon, and who better to get us one than a major in the Guylos Empire?

I crawled across the grass until I was about one meter from the fence. A guard stepped into view and leisurely passed by my position. He was a hairy, fat thug that showed little interest in his duty. He apparently wasn't trained by the Imperial army. I guess Nevets figured he could save a few bucks by hiring mercenaries.

When his gaze passed over my position on the ground, he reached into his non-uniform jacket and I froze. Had he seen me? I didn't even risk breathing.

My fears were quickly eased when he pulled a donut out of his pockets, began chewing and walked on.

It took a lot of strength not to start swearing.

Feeling a tug at my feet I looked back to see Kavid. "That was close," he whispered, "Guess these black jeans work better than we had figured."

"Yeah, well, we were just lucky. Give me the wire cutters."

After severing the fence-wire, Kavid and I crawled through the cut and approached the house without incident. The side door was unlocked, and we quietly entered the servants' entrance.

"I tore my pants in the fence!" whined Kavid.

"We don't have time to worry about it. Let's get the major and go!" Perhaps jeans hadn't been such a great idea.

After making our way upstairs, we reached the room that was still lit. Someone was talking from within, and it wasn't hard to recognize that awful voice.

"Despite your sparkling record with the Empire, your failure will stain my career for the rest of my life." griped Nevets

"We…we were fighting indestructible Zoids, Major. I must have shot them a thousand times!" Was that the Killer Dome pilot?

"Shut up you moron!" A slapping sound. "I won't waste any more of my time. You've failed, and I shall suffer for it for the rest of my career. You will die. The end." I could here a pistol being cocked. I had to move.

"Not tonight, Nevets!" I called as I swung around the doorway, tranquilizer gun raised.

"What?" he growled, but before he could move his firing arm, I shot him with the tranquilizer. He quivered and collapsed.

The imperial pilot was on his knees and bound with rope. "We only came for Nevets, not to harm you." Explained Kavid as I picked up the major. The pilot looked at Nevets, then at me, then back to Kavid.

"Take me with you!" he begged. Kavid froze in his tracks.

"What?"

"Take me with you! I can't stay here!" The pilot walked on his knees over towards us. "Nevets was going to kill me, and if you take him now, I'll look like an accomplice!" My friend and I looked at each other.

"Look, either I join you or I die! Please! I can help you!"

Kavid pulled out his largest knife and held it to the pilot's throat. "We don't need your help. Go home, buddy." With that, he cut the ropes and freed the man who had attempted to kill him only a day before.

We quickly made our ways down the stairs and charged out the front door of Nevets' large home. The guards saw us but were too boggled to understand just what was happening before them. Surprisingly, the fat guard did manage to get his rifle raised at us.

As planned, however, the chirping of crickets was drowned out by the roaring of a de-cloaking PAC-Wolf.

PAC-3 waved into vision standing in the street just in front of Nevet's home, and fired cannon shots at the guards and they dove for cover. Then, as Kavid, Nevets, the pilot and I escaped, Sifen's Wolf's missile launchers slowly opened and fired a volley of projectiles at the Helcat, which subsequently exploded and sent shrapnel and flame into Nevets' home, quickly transforming it into a massive fireball.

At dawn Katrana walked up to me as I drank my morning coffee.

"Good morning." Her smile was gorgeous.

"Morning." I offered her a mug. "Coffee?"

She stuck her tongue out. "If Mansod made it, no thanks." We both smiled. "Quite a stir you boys made last night. Word about it is getting spread all over the Empire."

I rolled my eyes. "Great."

Katrana patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon. While you guys were out capturing majors, I was finding weapons of mass destruction."

I nearly spurt my coffee. "Really? Where?"

"It seems mister Nevets here has been trying desperately to get himself assigned a Berserk Fuhrer."

"A Berserk--are you serious?"

"Yup. It's on its way via a small Gustav convoy. Should be easy pickings." Katrana sipped some tea. "I don't know what Nevets has been up to, but for a guy who trucks around a small town on a third-rate Helcat, he's been getting some seriously strong Zoids as of late."

I sat in silence for a moment. "I doubt it's all about Nevets here. The Empire may be up to something, and he's just in the right place as the wrong time." An idea popped in. "Think you could get us this Fuhrer?"

Katrana's eyes leapt from her head. "Me? What about you guys?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but this Fuhrer sounds 'in the bag'. While you go for it, we'll go for a second CPG."

"You want two?"

"You should always have a Plan-B."

"I can't do it all alone."

"Take Bruno." I smiled as she bonked me on the head.

Nevets' eyes blinked open as the morning sun reflected off of the side of Bruno's silvery Gustav.

The major was laying on the ground next to the insect-like Zoid with a gray blanket covering him, but with only a rolled up jacket to use for a pillow. Both the jacket and blanket were rather dirty and grasshoppers had been enjoying the warmth of his body all night long.

I felt both reward and guilt as I sipped Mansod's "special" coffee and smirked at the Imperial officer's groggy lack of awareness. It was obvious he had a hangover from the tranquilizer, but he should have been thankful I didn't shoot him twice.

"Where…where am I?" he asked out loud to no one in particular, just whomever could hear it.

I picked up a cup of coffee and carried it over. Kneeling down next to him as he rolled over to see where the commotion was coming from, I answered. "You're with friends, Nevets."

The Major's eyes snapped around to focus in on my face and stared in shock, then rage.

Perfect. I wanted to be the first face he saw when he woke up.

Despite the flush of blood to his face, he grabbed the coffee I offered him and began drinking. It's strength didn't even make him flinch.

"Kelt! You dare to hold me as a hostage? You really are stupid. Just because you and your band of morons got your hands on some heavily-armored Zoids does not mean that you are any threat to the Guylos Empire!"

I grabbed Nevets by his bony shoulders and set his back against the Gustav. "Major, you've really got some thinking to do. Hasn't it slipped through that dense skin of yours that we are very, very pissed off that you tried to kill us off out at the granary? Right now we aren't too concerned about the Empire. We're more interested in seeing you suffer. Understand?"

Nevets' eyes grew a little bigger and he slowly nodded his head. "May…maybe we can…can cut a deal?" he sipped some more coffee. This time he flinched.

I grinned. "Now that's the Nevets that I know and love. After all, I did say that you are with friends."

The major jumped so much he spilled some of his coffee. "That's right! That's right! You did say that!"

I winked. "Tell me what you know about Charged Particle Guns."


	6. Chapter 6

The horizon filled with the wavy illusion of water. Each foot step cracked the dry, brittle clay beneath the red hot paws of our steaming metallic Zoids.

Unlike the original PAC-Wolves, these versions weren't brand new. They were used--blasted with the Particle Charger and hardened after they had already taken some beatings in action. That concerned me, but it bothered Sifen even more. He was a scientist even more that a soldier.

I just wished they had cup-holders.

The duracrete structures steadily grew larger as our row of ruby red, black and silver Command Wolves approached it with an eerie determination in their empty stares.

We reached the walled entrance as the sun reached its apex in the Zi sky. The thirty-meter tall gate doors looked almost red. Sunrays of 130-degrees can do that to metal.

The gate guard had more of a look of anger towards us about having made him exit his air conditioned bunker than a look of concern about seeing four Republic Zoids arrive at his base. He aimed his anti-Zoid rifle at my cockpit and attempted to speak with strength, bit it quickly became gaspy.

"State your…your purpose here."

I opened the cockpit hatch of PAC-1 and the rush of heat felt like a punch to my lungs. "Experimental Zoid…transfer by order of…Major…Major Erem Nevets." I handed the guard the electronic documents Nevets had given me and tried my hardest to not look nervous. Luckily, sweating was reasonable at the moment. If Nevets had betrayed me I swore that I'd go back and let PAC-1 rip him apart.

The imperial soldier studied the documents and shook his head. I prepared to close the hatch and run. "I don't know…what the major has…in mind to do out at…this frying pan, but…he better come do it quick."

"Why is that?" I asked as I took back the forged documents.

"You don't know?" he looked at me suspiciously. "This place is…going to be converted…into an ammo depot…for some super-Zoid…in a couple of days. They won't let…any other Zoids stay here…after that."

I had to bite my cheek to keep my jaw from dropping.

"Now, if you'll…excuse me…I'm frying my…ass off in this…sunlight." With that, he went back into his little bunker. Moments later, the gates groaned and shrieked, then slowly creaked open.

The PAC-Wolf Unit filed into the Imperial Southern Scientific Outpost, and although I enjoyed the air-conditioning in my Zoid's cockpit again, I was uncomfortable. I wanted to share with my friends the news that I had just learned, but I couldn't risk having our transmissions intercepted.

The ISSO was almost barren. There were no Zoids to be seen. The base consisted of only a few small bunkers, a large bunker and an enormous hangar. Around the base was wrapped a rather decrepit wall that was falling in upon itself in multiple locations. Mounted around the wall were a few heavy turret cannons, but most of them looked so dusted and rusty that I would bet against their abilities to function.

A sudden wave of panic hit me: I had no idea where to park the PAC-Wolves! I had just miraculously smuggled a unit of Helic Republic Command Wolves onto a Guylos Empire base, and didn't have any idea about what to do with them!

My saving grace came when a small hangar door opened and a Molga squirmed out. The image of the Molga's driver popped up onto my Zoid's HUD.

"Wheredaya think you's goin'? he asked.

"Umm…I'm trying to find a place to conduct upgrade experiments on Major Nevets' Zoids." I replied. Saying that the Wolves were the property of that scum-ball sent shivers throughout my nervous system.

"All Zoids is parked in the main hanger. I thought everybody knew that! Hurry up and follow me!" The gate guard was easy to get by, and this guy was even easier. So far the soldiers at this base hadn't impressed me too much. Maybe we'd be okay here after all.

We trotted the PAC-Wolves into the hangar, and were both amazed and repulsed by what we saw.

The hangar was stock full of Zoids, but very few were in complete condition. Bodies, legs, heads and tails of almost every type of Zoid imaginable were spread out along shelves, hooks and conveyor belts that were nearly a half-kilometer long.

But it wasn't a Zoid graveyard.

These parts were kept in perfect condition, perhaps so they could be used as replacement—no—as upgrade or modification parts for Zoids…like the Stone Dragon.

But where were the weapons?

The bunkers. The weapons had to be in the bunkers. There, they could be heavily protected.

The Molga lead us to a clear area by some complete Republic Zoids. There were Cannon Tortoises, Shield Ligers and even a partially stripped down Liger Zero.

"Your Republic-style Zoids should be okay over here—for a little while—but I'm not promisin' nuthin'. " The Molga driver spit into a cup he had in a…_cup-holder! His Molga had cup-holders!_ "You'll find visitor rooms in the bunkers, but you gotta be outta here by tamarra." He spit again.

I risked asking why.

"Haven't ya been told?" he sighed, then spoke quietly, "I'm not supposed ta know this, but I heard that the Stone Dragon is cummin' to get fit up in the mornin'. That's why they're getting' rid of all the 'Non-Essential' personnel. Anyone who ain't supposed ta be here is gonna get shot. Plain and simple. So, there ya have it. I'm getting' out, and you should to." He smiled and spoke loudly again. "Enjoy your stay!"

The Molga slithered away as Kavid, Sifen, Mansod and I climbed out of our Zoids. We huddled up by the feet of PAC-1. I filled them in on everything that I had been told.

Kavid squirmed in the Imperial Lieutenant Uniform he was wearing. "I'll bet you everything I have that Nevets sent us here because he knew it was the Dragon's new playpen."

"No bet." Whined Mansod. "What are we gonna do?"

I could see Sifen's eyes locked on the Shield Ligers. "Got an idea, old friend?" I asked him. Sifen walked over to a Liger and I followed. Kavid and Mansod started digging through parts dumpsters.

"I made a quick scan of these six Ligers as we came in. Five of them still contain their shield units."

I knew how Sifen's mind worked. "Are you serious? You can't put a Shield Liger's shield unit into a Command Wolf!"

"Actually there's plenty of room in the cargo holds."

"What about all the cargo we're carrying?"

"We'll have to dump it. The benefits outweigh the cost." Ugh. Sifen was almost always right. So much for sleeping on my portable mattress.

"Well, Sifen, it would give us an advantage against the Stone Dragon. How can I say no?"

"No way!"

"Calm down, Lieutenant Deen!" I quietly ordered.

"Oh, so now we're getting all formal again, eh, 'Captain Kelt'? I thought we abandoned that crap a long time ago."

I pointed to my Imperial uniform. "Not while we're wearing these clothes, buddy."

Kavid rolled his eyes. "Look, we're less than two days away from certain death, and you want to let Sifen weaken our already useless Zoids?"

My friend's tone concerned me. "Sifen is trying to make our Zoids stronger, Kavid."

"If the Stone Dragon is as powerful as Katrana says it is, do you think some little shields units will do any good?"

"They couldn't hurt." I sighed.

Kavid's eyes seemed to grow red from my response. "You do remember how much power it takes to keep a shield unit on, don't you?"

"Yes." He had a point.

"We wouldn't even be able to shoot our weapons while they were activated. Command Wolves just don't have the energy for it."

Kavid turned around to look at PAC-2. "We told Nevets to get us access into a place where we could find a Charged Particle Gun, not Shield Liger parts. If you want to beat this damn Rock Lizard, we better get start doing what we set out to do. Sooner or later the authorities are gonna wonder what we're doing over here."

I thought in silence for a moment. "Look, let Sifen and Mansod work. Just because we have a shield unit doesn't mean we have to use it--but at least we'll have the option." Kavid grunted.

"C'mon, let's go try to find a CPG." I ushered.

"We can't attach _that_ to a Command Wolf." Kavid said with a sneer.

"We could always try."

To our relief, we found an underground tunnel that lead to the weapons bunker from the parts hangar. It was so small, though, that very few Zoids could have fit through it. It was obviously designed to keep Zoids out. Transport trucks hooked with long trailers sat at both ends of the tunnel.

As Kavid and I approached the bunker, it occurred to us that there was only a skeleton crew left at the ISSO outpost. If a full crew had been assigned to the base, we'd never have gotten as far as we had. A few guards noticed us from a distance, but seemed too busy with loading and un-loading duties to check whether we should have been there or not.

The weapons bunker was about one-fifth the size of the parts hangar, but packed three-times as dense. There was nowhere to move. Every footstep was a tight squeeze between Zoid cannons and missiles stacked upon the ground. Enormous claws dangled from chains hooked to fifty-meter long railings, giving the entire layout the appearance of some obscenely over-sized children's game.

Kavid turned to me with a shared look of frustration on his face. "We can't even get five meters into this place. How are we supposed to find anything?"

"Perhaps I can help."

I whipped around in shock. Kavid had already drawn his blaster.

Behind me stood one of the last people I ever expected to see in the Imperial Southern Scientific Outpost: The Killer Dome pilot Kavid freed a week ago.

He was alone, in full uniform, with his gun holstered. Despite a strong five-o'clock shadow, he looked like an ideal Imperial officer.

"You?" I bobbed my head back. "What are you doing here?"

"More importantly," Kavid asked, "What do you want with us?"

The pilot looked at some passing guards and started walking us back through the tunnel. "Come with me." Our curiosity overpowered our caution, and we followed.

"You won't find any Charged Particle Guns here."

"How do you know about that?" snapped Kavid.

"I worked for Nevets, remember? He has a big mouth, especially when it's full of alcohol." I was amazed that this guy could deceive Nevets, even after the major had threatened to kill him. "There are CPGs here, but they are so stripped down that you'll never get them working before the Stone Dragon gets here."

Now Kavid was really annoyed. "You sure seem to know a lot about our goals in life."

"I've been working for Nevets for the past year. His life has revolved around you guys. And like I said, the guy likes to talk." He paused for a moment to let us analyze what he had just said. "Look, the SD is going to be here by morning. You guys need what I have to offer."

"Before we move on, will you at least tell us your name?" I asked.

The pilot took a deep breath a braced himself.

"Captain Zaun Skyler."

It took all the willpower I had to not jump the man and start breaking his skull. Kavid had drawn his pistol, but the fight against pulling the trigger was shaking his arm. Skyler merely looked at the floor, carrying a hint of a sneer.

The name Zaun Skyler was synonymous with "butcher" in the Helic Republic. The "Z-Killer" as he was also known, was an assassin of the Imperial General Cran Madash. Skyler was the best Zoid pilot Madash had in his forces, and the general had nasty ambitions to conquer the Republic's colonies out along the Rosti River.

Skyler's brutal fighting techniques destroyed dozens of Zoids and killed or wounded hundreds of people—from both sides. What made everything even more drastic was that he did all his fighting in a Blade Liger he commandeered from his very first kill. Very few people had ever lived to see him.

How did fate ever place him with us?

"If you kill me now you'll never make it off this base alive."

"It would certainly make us heroes." Said Kavid. Amen, brother.

Skyler looked up at us with a fire in his eyes. "My sins of the past are exactly that: the past. I broke away from General Madash years ago. I couldn't leave the Imperial Army, so I transferred to a place I thought I'd never be seen again: with Nevets. Regardless, I got stuck in the hands of another power-hungry lunatic.

"Something happened to me while working for the major that never happened to me before: I lost. Nevets was going to kill me for it. Despite all my glorious service I realized just how worthless I really am to this damn Empire. But before I was going to get punished, you saved me! Despite my evils I was given a second chance. I owe you both everything that I have."

He opened a door into a small Zoid refit room. "Including this."

My jaw felt like it hit the floor. I'm pretty sure Kavid's gun did.

Skyler's Blade Liger Vampire was both myth and legend. Myth that it gained power from sucking life out of the Zoid-cores of fallen enemies, legend in the number of them. It was also said that there was more gold highlighting the Liger than in the Emperor's entire stateroom. The silvery underbelly and legs seemed to brighten the room. At the same time, the black armor plating was drenched in stealth-paints, practically sucking the armored parts of the Zoid out of view.

Was this an engineering masterpiece or and insane man's expression of gluttony?

"The Vampire." Gloated Skyler. "It is the only chance you have against the Stone Dragon."

His statement slapped me back into the real world. "Skyler, there is no doubt that your Blade Liger is powerful, but we're looking for energy weapons, not bladed ones."

"I've got two of them." He pointed to the Attack Booster Cannons the Liger carried.

Kavid stopped drooling and almost started laughing. "Those are just heavy lasers. Worthless against—."

Skyler cut him off, "Wrong! This isn't an ordinary Blade Liger!" The mass-murderer started to look maniacal. "This is the most powerful Zoid on Zi! I removed the original Attack Booster Cannons long ago and replaced them with twin Charged Particle Guns!"

Kavid's gun hit the floor again. Did he have the safety on? "You put two CPG's in…in a _Blade Liger_?"

"Yes!" The giggling pilot slapped his hand on the leg of his Zoid. "I wanted the most powerful, most maneuverable Zoid on Zi because I knew a day like this would come!"

I took a step back. "What is today supposed to be?"

Skyler didn't look at me, he just made fists and glared through the floor. "The day I start redeeming myself!. The day I blow that new Zoid off of the planet and get remembered for being a hero, not a murderer!"

Kavid had his pistol holstered again, but kept his hand on it. "You're not fighting with us, 'Z-Killer'."

Skyler's head whipped over in anger, but his emotion was quickly detained. "What?"

I continued, "This is _our_ mission, and although we do appreciate anything you can offer us, we won't let anyone else get hurt."

The Imperial pilot took a moment to look down in deep thought. When he spoke again, I had to strain to hear him. "I'm the only person that knows how to pilot my Zoid."

"Everybody says that," said Kavid, "We'll figure it out."

Skyler got louder. "If you want the Blade Liger Vampire to help you, you let me drive it. Period."

The cock on Kavid's pistol clicked. Skyler looked down its barrel as Kavid aimed. "There are a lot of reasons I should kill you right now. Don't you dare try to make demands."

Skyler's eyes remained stone cold.

A rush of panic flowed through me as I said the next sentence: "No. He's right. All right, Skyler…you're in."


	7. Chapter 7

What had I done?

Better yet, what had I been doing?

In just the last week, I had re-allied myself with a woman who had betrayed us all years ago. Then soon after, I trusted our lives to information from a madman who had always professed hatred to us, and had tried to kill us! To top it all off, amidst the passionate protest of my friends, I allied us to a butcher of thousands of helpless people. Had I gone absolutely wacko?

Were we really that desperate?

All our new allies said we were.

The PAC-Wolves, all packing their new shield units, stood in slumped, lifeless stances behind the hangar's front door. The base's human workers were either asleep for the night or knocked out in the back of the hangar. We—the Castaways of the Republic—had moved the Command Wolves into a better launch position for the Stone Dragon's arrival.

I sat in PAC-1 and worked its controls, gently feeling for any bumps or weaknesses. There was a light thump when it was pushed up high. That probably meant its head had been rammed into something back in the days before it was "gifted" with plasma armor. Maybe an Iron Kong had punched it, like my old Orion Wolf? I wonder what the story was. What battles had this Zoid survived?

I knew everything about the first PAC-1—it was brand new—but this one, this one would always be a mystery. Not having cup holders didn't bother me so much anymore.

The side access door opened and Kavid walked in, very tan and caked with sand. He was carrying a heavy rifle and large binoculars. I opened my Zoid's cockpit window. "What's the word, Lieutenant Deen?"

"Mobilize."

My cyberphonic implants rang from the clanging of the front gate, but I had to focus on the job at hand. There was a small wad of dust tumbling its way towards the outpost, and we had to intercept it, no matter the cost.

Sifen popped up on my HUD-Comm. "I recommend the Emerald Scorpion attack, sir."

I smiled. "You just want to try out your new shields. That's a good idea, but we need to stick to our strongest asset: our stealth. As soon as we see this thing, we'll go with the Whispering Grenade assault. The second one of us loses cloak, we switch to Emerald Scorpion."

Kavid joined the comm. "Remember the rule on Turkey Shoot: Not till the last second."

I frowned. "We all know the rules, Lieutenant."

Mansod called in, excited. "It's at the canyon edge, sir!"

"Cloaks on! Good luck!"

The Pac-Wolves flickered out of view as the dust ball rolled along the edge of the cliff. As the PAC-Wolves invisibly ran down to the base of the canyon, our target came into view.

For no apparent reason, the running Zoid came to a stop, and the trail of dust engulfed it. As the cloud of dirt cleared from around the Liger, its appearance finally became clear. The main body was silver, and it carried massive sand-colored armor plating and black weaponry.

Kavid and Sifen both popped up on my Zoid's HUD.

"What's that thing doing? Showing itself off?" asked Kavid.

"It's head is indeed that of a Liger Zero-X," said Sifen, "But with a massive sword attached to its forehead. The armor plates carried on its legs' shoulder joints are larger and thicker than a Panzer's. However, the rest of the legs only hold standard Liger Zero armor."

"Probably to keep the wait down." I guessed. It obviously already weighed far more than a Liger Zero Panzer.

Kavid did a little analyzing. "The weapons are all customized. I've never seen those front leg Vulcan cannons before, though. They're new. The energy readings from their ammunition is incredible. They'll do five times the damage that a Killer Spiner's cannons will do if they hit you. Also, those big blades attached to the cannons give the Dragon almost Blade Liger-like abilities. The similar blades attached to the tail must be in case he misses."

Sifen continued: "The back armor plates carry large, multiple-shot missile launchers. The launchers can release sixteen computer-targeting rockets into the air at a time. Once they're fired, they don't stop chasing you until they hit you."

I did a little analysis myself. "That turreted laser cannon up on the Liger's back carries enough firepower to incinerate any small Zoid in one shot. All those extra zappers and missiles attached to the cannon don't read as anything special, but I'd be careful about them, anyway."

Sifen finished the scan. "The missile launchers on the rear legs are actually modified rocket boosters, which the Zoid apparently needs just to get around."

I couldn't say that the Stone Dragon was the most grossly over-armed Zoid I'd ever seen—that award still goes to the Death Sniper.

But it was the scariest.

As the bulky Liger sat upon the cliff's edge, sinking into the rock, a falling stone hit PAC-1. Inspiration hit me.

"PAC-Wolves," I screamed, "Destroy the cliff's edge!"

What I enjoyed most about my team was that we were so finely tuned that instead of asking why, they just fired.

And fired and fired and fired.

Rock and dust was sent spiraling through the air as the cannon blasts shattered the millenniums-old canyon wall It was a terrible price to pay, but when the Stone Dragon was sent tumbling 800-meters straight down in a coffin of boulders, only to smash upon the jagged rock ravine floor, I felt proud.

"Yes!" cheered Mansod. PAC-4 de-cloaked and went trotting towards the crash point.

"Mansod!" barked Sifen, "You were not ordered to de-cloak! Re-activate and pull back now!"

"Someone has to check it out. Besides, no Zoid could have survived that fall."

"Dammit, Private! Get back here, _now_!"

In a sickening déjà vu of our last battle at Mt. Hoploy, the boulders exploded in front of PAC-4, and the Stone Dragon leapt from the rubble. It quickly aimed its starboard Vulcan cannon at Mansod's Command Wolf and opened fire. PAC-4 was sent hurtling into the canyon wall, pinned by the never-ending stream of rage pouring from the Liger. The Liger's turret warmed up and began a barrage of energy shells into PAC-4's side.

"Wake up, Jeremy!" screamed Kavid.

I had forgotten where I was again. I needed to start remembering that I was at war. All the new weapons of late were amazing me too much.

PAC-1 dropped its cloak and activated its new shield. The orange hexagon flickered into view in front of the Command Wolf, giving the Zoid a front-heavy appearance.

I ran towards Mansod as quickly as possible and slid PAC-1 in between the SD and PAC-4. The shield held for about three seconds before it exploded, knocking PAC-1 back towards PAC-4.

Before the Dragon could continue its fire, I had one more order to make: "Whispering Grenade! Go!"

PAC-3 waved into view right at the side of the Stone Dragon with its missile launchers open. It launched every missile it had into the starboard side, then fired its thrusters and ran off. PAC-2 flickered into view in the middle of a sideways slide across the hard rock floor. It stopped directly in front of the Liger and hurled repeated blasts into the roaring Zoids' mouth.

In unison, every PAC-Wolf, save PAC-4, activated its cloaking shield and disappeared. The Stone Dragon, now smoking heavily from its side and mouth, spun around and began running out of the canyon.

At full speed, PAC-2 and PAC-3 flickered into view running directly at the Stone Dragon's sides. Sifen and Kavid powered up their shields and sandwich-slammed the Liger from both sides. The Zoid belly-flopped and skid across the ground while the Command Wolves tumbled awkwardly with their shields still on.

From a safer distance, I dropped PAC-1's shield, locked target on the tan and silver Liger and began shooting as fast as I could pull the trigger. Most of the shots just ricocheted, but there were a few small explosions. After they had regained their wits from the clumsy Emerald Scorpion attack, Kavid and Sifen joined in my barrage of the fallen Liger.

"Enough!" barked a fatigued, yet powerful voice over the comm..

The Stone Dragon's turret began firing crackling shells of energy in quick succession in multiple directions.

Sifen and Kavid re-activated their shields, which proved strong enough to resist the turret's raining of shells—barely. I moved in closer as the SD stood back up and re-positioned itself.

Now that two PAC-wolves could no longer fire their weapons, the Liger switched its turret fire to PAC-1, and opened a missile attack on PAC-3.

PAC-2 got the worst.

Both Vulcan cannons fired on Kavid's Zoid, sending a river of energy shells that tore through his shield like it was paper. The Command Wolf was slammed into the hard rock cliff-side much like PAC-4 had been. The Stone Dragon walked towards it, suppressing Sifen and I with its omni-directional assault.

The rock was torn apart as PAC-2 was forcefully battered into it. Missiles mounted on the main turret joined in the drilling of PAC-2, and when they hit, something happened that nobody expected:

PAC-2's heavy weapons turret broke off!

"Dammit!" I screamed in panic. "Sifen! Turkey Shoot! Now!"

Amidst a hailing of some of the deadliest weaponry we had ever seen, Sifen and I abandoned our friends and scampered like frightened puppies out of the dry river bed.

The Stone Dragon continued to target us, and the last bolts and missiles flipped us and rolled our Zoids--but they didn't stop us. Eventually we cleared the canyon and ran across the sand dunes towards ISSO.

Before we could get far, we were stopped by a nightmare image.

PAC-2 sailed over the top of us in a flaming rage and crashed to the ground, blocking our path.

My velocity was so great that I had no choice but to crash into Kavid's massacred Zoid. Sifen, thankfully, was able to veer off.

PAC-1 pulled off of PAC-2's carcass, and I could see breaks and holes in the plasma armor plates. Body parts were busted off, and all of its weapons were gone. Worst of all, the cockpit was shattered--Kavid was missing.

"No!" I cried as I jerked PAC-1's controls. I figure if they weren't plasma armor, they would have broken. As PAC-1 jumped around, I saw the Dragon growing larger as it approached with its thrusters on, giving it a fiery background.

I opened fire, but the SD dodged everything. PAC-3 stood by my side and shot everything it had, but its small turret did no good, and it was out of missiles.

"Captain Kelt!"

"I don't care about strategy anymore, Sifen! I'm going to kill this bastard myself!"

"You will do as I say, sir!" I never heard Sifen give me an order before, but I wanted to at least listen. "Our only chance is to take out the Stone Dragon's mobility. Therefore, since I'm the fastest, I'm going to attempt to destroy his thrusters. Do not activate Turkey Shoot until after I am successful or destroyed, understood?"

"Yes…yes, Sifen. I'll do what I can to help. Good luck." His plan made sense.

"Thank you.."

Sifen opened up PAC-3's boosters and ran behind the Stone Dragon, shooting at the Liger's thrusters. I started a series of shots at the Dragon's head to distract it, but it didn't work. In a matter of seconds, a swarm of missiles poured out of the SD's rear launchers, and Sifen's PAC-3 was engulfed in a smoky red ball of earth and fire.

The Dragon swung out its front leg blades and did an impressive one-legged pirouette. Running back at the ruby-red Command Wolf, it energized its blades and attempted to slice PAC-3. The starboard blade broke on the plasma armor, but when the tail quickly swung in for a second hit, the Wolf's left legs were chopped off!

The SD saw its victory and went back for the reward. I tried desperately to shoot it away, but it fired every gun it had at Sifen…for about three seconds. Then its cannons and launchers whirred and clicked empty.

The Stone Dragon had run out of ammunition.

It was now or never.

I flipped on my all-call and yelled frantically, "Turkey Shoot! Go! Go! Go!"

About two-hundred meters behind PAC-1 sat two enormous sand dunes; dunes that had mysteriously been drifting closer to this battle site for the last fifteen minutes.

The right sand dune sparkled brightly with energy as a massive hologram of a sand dune disappeared to reveal Skyler's Blade Liger Vampire. The left sand dune sparkled away as well, but this one revealed an equally out-of-place but just as welcome surprise: an Imperial Berserk Fuhrer.

Spheres of dancing ions formed at the ends of gun barrels while cooling valves opened along the tail of the Fuhrer and the Attack Boosters of the Liger. The Berserk Fuhrer opened up its twin set of blades in order to reveal two more release points for its Charged Particle Beams.

"Jeremy, this is Katrana. Get out of there, you've got about ten seconds before we fire!" It was good to hear her voice again.

The Stone Dragon was so caught up in its destruction of PAC-3 that it didn't notice the other Zoids. All I was focused on was the fact that Sifen was going to be right in the middle of a massive explosion.

Swinging PAC-1's turret around, I ran the Command Wolf as hard as it would go straight at the Liger Zero-X. "Let's see if your head can take another hit, buddy." I said to my veteran Zoid.

The two Zoids smashed, but the ultra-heavy Liger barely budged, and PAC-1 bounced off and rolled backwards across the ground.

Luckily, it was enough.

The Stone Dragon took interest in my attack and got up off of PAC-3, and as it was crossing the sand between Sifen and PAC-1, the Charged Particle Guns fired.

Five crackling, pale blue streams of charged energy burnt their way through the sky. The sand was trenched beneath the beams as they soared to their target. Before the Stone Dragon's pilot even knew what was happening, he was the center of the biggest explosion I had ever seen.


	8. Chapter 8

Once again, an enormous, dark cloud swirled around the Stone Dragon. This time, though, there was very little sand. It was dark black smoke.

The wind was stronger out in the open desert sea, so I knew that the shell of fumes would disappear soon, letting us know if we had succeeded or not.

"Excellent work, Katrana. You too, Skyler. Our plan worked…it worked." Considering that we had heard nothing from Mansod or Sifen, and Kavid was more than likely…gone…I dared not say that the Charged Particle Gun ambush went well.

The PAC-Wolves and their "invincibility" were nearly defeated once again. When we fought the Death Sniper, we faced an enemy that had a secret weapon to destroy two of us. This time, it was a foe that relied on brute force. Most of the PAC-Wolves were beyond repair just from the Stone Dragon's sheer determination.

PAC-1 was a sad sight. Its armor plating was dented and scarred, and there were some armor plates only dangling on. The thump in the controls was twice as bad, now.

"I was happy to help you, Captain Kelt." Said Skyler. "That was quite a rush."

Rush. That murdering bastard.

When Katrana's voice came up, she was angry, "Skyler! That Vampire of yours is wimpy! Your beams fired at half power! Why did…oh no!"

My eyes shot over to the vanishing smoke.

The Stone Dragon was still standing.

"Impossible!" yelled Skyler. Was that a touch of sarcasm?

The entire right side of the Liger was charred black, and little patches of fire danced across its body like bugs—but its legs were still attached. All of its starboard-side armor was stripped away, but the CPGs hadn't penetrated the Zoid's core, or even broken the leg joints.

Now I knew what a Zoid steak might look like.

The only answer could be…

"Plasma Armor." Said the voice of the Dragon's pilot. It hit me like a Gojulas fart. I knew that voice! "You've seen it before. We all have. Even your Blade Liger buddy Skyler over there."

"Bruticus!" The voice was that of Namor Bruticus, the pilot of the Death Sniper. "How did you get out of prison? How did you get your hands on a Zoid that powerful? How did you get Plasma Armor again?"

So many questions were pounding through my mind that I didn't take notice of the Blade Liger Vampire running out to take stance next to the smoking Stone Dragon.

Luckily, Katrana was on top of things…in more ways than one. "So, Skyler is your Imperial ally, eh, Bruticus? We knew he would be big, but we didn't expect the Vampire. That explains why his CPG shots had such a low power level."

I was starting to feel very left out of everything. "What are you talking about, Katrana? You knew Bruticus was the Stone Dragon's pilot?"

Katrana's image popped up on my HUD, and she looked very guilty. "I'm sorry, Jeremy, but we wanted to catch his Imperial weapons supplier, so, we let him escape."

I felt like the stupidest guy on all of planet Zi. Once again, betrayed by Katrana Sared.

"We knew he'd come straight for you, so, for your protection, we gave you the PAC-Wolves."

I butted in. "And Skyler joined Nevets' squad to keep an eye on us until Bruty-boy could reach us. You just didn't expect that Nevets would be trying to kill us, too."

"Exactly. Coming out here because of Nevets' information probably saved your life, Jeremy." Said Lieutenant Sared.

I felt my face go red with rage. "Tell that to Kavid, Katrana!"

Silence.

"Well, now that everything has been cleared up, let's finish this up, shall we?"

The Blade Liger Vampire's Charged Particle Beams nailed the Berserk Fury's starboard side, quickly burned their way through and exploded out of the opposite side. They weren't half-power anymore. Katrana screamed both in shock and in pain. The Fury's body collapsed onto its chest, flopping like a dead fish.

"Damn!" I growled. I picked up a remote control that Sifen had given me this morning, and hailed Skyler. I knew that his ego had to respond. His gloating image flickered into my view in just a few seconds.

"Don't try to beg for your life, Kelt. I intend to kill you, too. You were stupid to trust me."

Before he could flicker off, I showed him the remote control. "See this, Skyler? I never did trust you." I pressed the button atop the remote.

The Blade Liger Vampire was engulfed in lightning bots as its power core went into hyper-discharge. Skyler was forced to endure electrocution for nearly a dozen seconds until his fried Zoid's power was totally drained, and its smoking body teetered over and crashed onto the sandy dunes.

"Sifen found some really neat equipment in that parts hangar. Wish I had one attached to your Zoid, Bruticus."

"We seem to be at an impasse, Kelt. I'm out of ammunition, and your wimpy dog could never break my Liger's armor. Shall we call it a draw?"

I was so mad at that moment I nearly broke my teeth with all the grinding I was doing. That asshole had possibly killed all of my friends, and now he was telling me to just let him go?

But he had a point.

PAC-1 could fire for all eternity and never knock out the Stone Dragon. Eventually, that big Liger would take out my little Command Wolf, even if the Liger was half-cooked. Maybe my only choice was to retreat, re-arm and come back stronger…

No!

That is exactly was Bruticus would do as well! And if I ever did it, Kavid would never forgive me, even if he was gone…

A new feeling overwhelmed me, a feeling I swear was real. PAC-1 felt my passion, and channeled it into the loudest roar I've ever heard a Command Wolf roar. As if guiding me along, PAC-1 started running towards the Stone Dragon even before I moved the controls. The turret aimed quickly and precisely. The shots seemed to fire even before my finger could pull the trigger.

My Zoid and I fought as one, for a similar purpose, willing to pay the same price.

Bruticus' Zoid was struck again and again. Each strike seemed to hurt it more are more, despite it's plasma protection. PAC-1's 150mm cannon did not miss, as if it had supernatural powers. The Stone Dragon could not outmaneuver the Command Wolf in its damaged state. I focused on the right side of the SD, and with PAC-1's help, I hit the same spots over and over and over.

Finally, after over two-dozen hits on the front right leg's shoulder joint—the leg snapped!

Was it because of weakening by the Charged Particle Guns, was it because of spiritual powers gained by PAC-Wolf-1, was it a miracle? Who knows. The fact of the matter was that the Stone Dragon was finally damaged.

But it didn't fall.

Amazingly, the battered Zoid managed to stay standing upright. It _was_ wobbling, however. I finally had the upper hand.

I opened a hail "Do I start firing on the rear leg, Bruticus?"

"You will not defeat me…again." The determination in his voice was deep.

"Sorry, buddy, but I've got too much to fight for right now." Before I could open fire, heavy blasts slammed down from the sky, raising up a wall of sand between PAC-1 and the Stone Dragon.

I looked up to see a squadron of Redlers swarming in. The squad knocked my Zoid over as a pair broke off towards the Blade Liger Vampire. They dropped heavy hooked cables down to the Zoid, snagged it and raised it into the air. A group of four did the same with the Stone Dragon.

In a matter of moments, I was left gazing up at the shrinking silhouettes of my enemies as they disappeared over the dark horizon.

I couldn't tell how long I had been sitting in the cockpit of PAC-1, bit I was tired and thirsty. My cheeks were wet, and my throat hurt. My Command Wolf's head was slumped down on the sand. Either it was depressed or in pain. Or both.

After all was said and done, after all my friends had suffered, it had been for nothing.

The Stone Dragon had gotten away.

What did I have to show for it? It's leg? I had been betrayed again, so now I had no home, and possibly no friends.

All thanks to Plasma Armor.

Insanity began knocking at my door.

No, wait.

Someone really was knocking at my door. There were knocks against the Command Wolf's cockpit hatch.

Well, there was no point in delaying the inevitable. The Imperial Army had come for me, and I had nothing left to fight with. Oh, I had some ammo left, but the desire to fight was done. Without that, ammo doesn't mean much.

I popped the hatch.

"Bruno!"

"Captain Kelt! Whatchu' doin' in here? I sure is happy ta see you's alive!"

"Back at you big guy!" I had been fighting for so long that I had forgotten about Bruno. He must have been watching the battle from a distance the whole time. His big ugly mug had never made me smile so much. I quickly grew more somber. "I'm afraid the others may have been killed. At least Kavid has."

"Oh. Well, I don't knowse about the others, but I know that Kavid ain't dead."

I looked up hopefully. "What makes you say that?"

"'Cause he hasn't told us yet!" Bruno smiled a huge smile. I just couldn't bring myself to match it. He always had a lot of faith in Kavid's strength.

As I climbed out of PAC-1 I could see Bruno's eyes were staring hard to the west. "What's wrong, buddy?" I asked as I turned around.

"Would ya look at that."

What arose over the desert horizon was a vision of legend. An armada of Whale Kings emerged from the red sunset. The wall of flying Zoid cargo-ships spread from one end of the horizon to the other, flying at a slow, determined speed and low altitude. The dozens of lights on the massive Zoids all blinked in haunting unison as they passed over us and head east..

"They're all from the Republic." Bruno said in shock. "Where do you suppose they're going off to?"

There was only one answer.

"They're going to war."

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
